Thee Parkside closed for good on July 5 after 26 years at 1600 17th Street. It closed because the building sold and the business could not buy it. The places lined up to take on Potrero Hill's gathering role are built differently, one already open and two still on the way. One is a corner storefront that a fourth-generation Hill resident bought and built out. Another is a park clubhouse that neighbors are helping to pay for. The third is a Julia Morgan house that has been the Neighborhood House's home since 1922. A sale can easily erase a bar's room. These three rooms rest on longer neighborhood ties.
A Bar That Had the First Offer and Still Lost the Room
Mission Local reported in August 2025 that the longtime owner of 1600 17th Street had died earlier that year and that the building was being sold to a developer for nearly $1.33 million. As the long-standing tenant, owner Malia Spanyol had first right to buy. She found a restaurant-industry buyer willing to pay the $1.3 million asking price and keep the bar open. A slightly higher offer won, and she could not match it in the time she was given.
The bar stayed open nearly another year. Spanyol had run it since 2007, and in that time it averaged more than 200 shows a year, from touring bands to local acts. In The San Francisco Examiner's account of the closing, she said the shows were only part of it:
"For me, this space represents a community — it's more than just a place for bands."
The Examiner listed what that meant: staff weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, and benefits for nonprofits such as the senior-dog rescue Muttville. Public sales records show the buyer as 1600 17th St. LLC. When the Examiner went to press, no building permits or public filings showed what the space would become. Spanyol told the paper she has no plans to reopen Thee Parkside somewhere else.
What made the room hard to replace was everything that wasn't a concert. Each of the next three places covers, or is set to cover, part of that role, and the way each one holds its space explains why.
1700 20th Street, a Corner With a Local Owner Behind It
The corner storefront at 1700 20th Street has gone through three planned uses in under six years. Each plan built on the one before.
| When | Plan for the corner | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| February 2021 | Alex Pavloff builds the Agnello Farms meat shop on property he bought a few years earlier | The Potrero View |
| July 2023 | Deep Water Ice, bartender Carlos Yturria's specialty ice company, announces a shop in the storefront | San Francisco Chronicle |
| December 2026 | Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters plans a cafe with evening beer and wine and private conference rooms | The San Francisco Standard |
The Potrero View profiled Pavloff in 2021 as a fourth-generation Potrero Hill resident whose family used to host cookouts of up to 100 people on Connecticut Street. He was building the shop down the street from the house where his grandfather and father grew up. "It's a property I purchased a few years ago within the area my family still lives," he told the paper, describing the shop as a way to serve "this tight-knit community." His meat came from Agnello Farms, his ranch on leased land in Petaluma.
In 2023, the Chronicle reported that Yturria, co-owner of the Treasury and White Cap, planned to open a retail shop in Potrero Hill for Deep Water Ice. The company already supplied the big, clear cubes used in cocktails at Pacific Cocktail Haven, ABV and the Beehive.
The newest plan is the one that brings back a place to gather. The Standard reported on September 24 that Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters plans to open its second San Francisco cafe at 1700 20th Street in December. Founder Trish Rothgeb, who coined the term "third-wave coffee" in 2002, started Wrecking Ball in 2011. During the pandemic it shrank to its single Union Street cafe. Simon MacGibbon and Joey Cannata joined as co-owners at the end of 2025.
Each Wrecking Ball location is meant to feel different, and the Potrero cafe gets the most room-like format. The Standard says it will serve coffee, add beer and wine in the evenings, and include private conference rooms for locals to use. Coffee in the morning, a glass of wine after work, and a room you can book is a lot of what a neighborhood bar used to offer, without a stage. Rothgeb also hopes to open a roastery in Dogpatch in early 2027, just down the hill. December is a target, not a confirmed opening date.
Jackson Playground's Clubhouse Gets a Stage and a Kitchen
The larger gathering room is coming at Jackson Playground, and neighbors are helping pay for it. On October 1, San Francisco Recreation and Parks announced a $10 million state award toward the park's planned $48 million renovation. The money still needs approval from the Board of Supervisors. The concept design, approved by the Recreation and Park Commission in March 2023, includes:
- A rebuilt clubhouse, 1,850 square feet larger, with a kitchen, restrooms and a stage for expanded community programming
- A dedicated dog run
- Reconfigured ballfields designed for simultaneous games
- New playgrounds and sports viewing areas
- A community garden
- An outdoor multi-use ball court
The first item is the one that matters for this story. A kitchen, restrooms and a stage are the basics of a room that can host a benefit, a birthday party or a neighborhood meeting, which is the list of uses that made Thee Parkside more than a music venue.
The way the park is being funded matters too. The project is a public-private partnership between Rec and Park and the Friends of Jackson Park, and the two have been reworking the park together since 2014. Friends of Jackson Park is still raising money, with about $6 million left to fully fund the renovation. Executive Director Jude Deckenbach called the state award "the result of years of work by our neighbors and our partners." Construction is expected to start in late 2027. The clubhouse will sit on public park land, so its future runs through Rec and Park rather than through a private building sale.
The House at the Top of De Haro Has Done This Since 1922
The longest-running example is already open. The Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, which neighbors call the Nabe, traces its founding to 1907. Its own history says Julia Morgan was commissioned in 1919 to design a permanent building at 953 De Haro Street, completed in 1922. Before that building, the organization worked out of rented space that proved inadequate. A century ago, the Hill's community center solved the same problem Thee Parkside could not.
The Nabe has had a full October. On October 10 it hosted the Golden State Pie Competition, where home bakers competed for Best Pie in San Francisco and visitors voted for a People's Choice Award. A week later, the 51st Potrero Hill Rhythm & Blues Festival filled 20th Street between Wisconsin and Missouri streets with live music, art, face painting, food and a petting zoo. The festival benefits Daniel Webster and Starr King elementary schools and the Neighborhood House. This summer the organization announced that San Francisco Magazine gave it the first Best of the Bay Community Impact Award, crediting Executive Director Edward Hatter's more than two decades of leadership.
The festivals come once a year. The weekly schedule is what keeps people coming back. The Nabe's calendar for November lists:
- Mondays: tai chi
- Tuesdays: Pilates
- Wednesdays: food pantry and Zumba
- Fridays and Saturdays: table tennis
Of the three rooms in this story, a Friday night of table tennis in a 1922 Julia Morgan house is the one open today. The schedule runs into December, with table tennis on December 4 and 5.
What to Watch Between Now and Late 2027
- Now: The Nabe's weekly calendar, with table tennis every Friday and Saturday at 953 De Haro.
- December 2026: Wrecking Ball's target opening at 1700 20th Street, with the evening wine service and bookable conference rooms the Standard described.
- Pending: The Board of Supervisors' vote on Jackson Playground's $10 million state award, and Friends of Jackson Park's push to raise the remaining $6 million or so.
- Late 2027: Expected start of construction on the new clubhouse with its stage and kitchen.
- Unknown: The future of 1600 17th Street. When the Examiner reported on the closing, the building had no permits on file.
The next Jackson Playground milestone to watch is the supervisors' vote on the $10 million award.
Spaces like the old Parkside, the corner at 1700 20th, or a clubhouse with a stage are how Adelaida Mejia reads Potrero Hill: block by block, by who owns each building and what it might become. If you own on the Hill and want to talk through how changes like these could shape your home's story when you're ready to sell, book a time with Adelaida or request a home valuation.
